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Workers of a garment factory in Uttara, Dhaka on Saturday barricaded the nearby railways demanding a salary hike and payment of dues.
   The railway communication between the capital and the rest of the country had remained snapped for over three hours until some labour leaders calmed them down at about 12:30pm.
   According to witness accounts, hundreds of workers of Hey Sung Corporation located at Chalaban came to work in the morning at about 7:30am only to find it closed for indefinite period.
   All the workers then went on the rampage in front of the Korean-owned factory protesting at the decision taken without any prior notice.
   They chanted slogans against some allegedly corrupt and conspiring officials of the factory and demanded immediate punishment to them.
   At one stage, the mob brought out a procession and barricaded the railways at Ajampur Kanchabazar railway crossing at about 9:00am.
   On information, Shirin Akhter of the Karmojibi Nari, Moshrefa Mishu of the Garment Workers' Unity Forum, and some leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association came to the spot and managed the workers to remove the barricade at about 12:30pm.
   Later, the labour leaders held a meeting with the factory authorities about the workers’ 11-point charter of demands including increase in salary and payment of arrears and overtime bills.
   When the labour leaders informed the agitating workers that the factory management had assured to meet their demands immediately, the workers stopped demonstrating.
   Earlier, on June 7, some goons allegedly company by the factory management swooped on the workers and injured 20 of them, when they were demonstrating to realise the demands.

More than 4,500 people were killed in 501 launch accidents in Bangladesh in the last 29 years from 1976 mainly due to faulty design of the vessels, said a study.
   The study conducted by the Alliance for Safe River Route Implementation also said that 70 per cent of ferry disasters occurred during the period due to the structural flaws of the river vessels.
   The other reasons behind the ferry disasters include unskilled masters, negligence of duty of the masters, overloading, over speed, lack of weather forecast and cautionary signal at the river ports.
   The alliance was formed following the accident of MV Nasreen on July 8, 2003 that left about 800 people killed. It claimed that some 20,000 cargoes and passenger vessels are now plying across the country and half of them do not have registration while most of the authorised vessels have no proper design.
   ‘Hundreds of people die in Bangladesh every year in ferry disasters because of overloading and mismanagement,’ the study said adding that the government’s weakness in enforcing laws as one of the major causes for repeated ferry accidents.
   ‘Though river accidents have occurred repeatedly since war of independence, no effective measures have been taken as per the investigation reports submitted by the authorities concerned in the past.’
   The study suggested that if the ferry owners were forced to follow proper design of boats, the number of accidents would go down during natural calamity.
   Meanwhile, the alliance leaders at a meeting on ‘unsafe waterway: death trap of poor people’ held at Muktangan in Dhaka on Saturday demanded that the government should declare July 8 as safe waterway day.
   They also stressed on launching operation of the mobile court on every route to ensure safety journey.

Despite a downward trend in acid violence in the last two years, no attacker has been so far executed as the lower court judgments have been pending with the appeal court for years.
   At least 2.58 lakh criminal cases are now pending with the High Court and of them, a number of cases are on acid violence, said the officials at the attorney general office on Saturday.
   It is not possible to sort out the cases on acid violence as a large number of criminal cases are pending with the High Court, they added saying that even there is no monitoring system.
   The Acid Survivors Foundation organised a dialogue session on ‘justice delayed, justice denied: role of state in reducing acid violence.’
   According to the study of the foundation, only 10-15 per cent of acid related cases have been disposed of by the trial court in last five years, but the rest of cases are pending with the High Court.
   ‘Almost all the death reference cases related to acid attacks are still pending with the Higher Court,’ the study says.
   According to the Acid Survivors Foundation, 282 acid throwers were convicted by the trial court between 2000 and 2005. Of them, 43 were awarded death sentence while 121 life term.

Biogas diploma engineers’ will observe a token hunger strike at Muktangan in the city on July 23 to press home their four-point charter of demands that included placing of their jobs under revenue budget.
   The engineers, under the banner of Biogas Diploma Engineers Association, will also submit a memorandum to the minister for science and information & communication technology and the finance and planning minister on July 16.
   The association general secretary, Mohammad Sakir Hossain, announced the programmes at a press conference on Saturday.
   Their other demands are proper utilisation of the budgetary allocation, Tk 100 crore, in renewable energy and payment of their outstanding salaries and allowances.

Poet Al Mahmud has got the Kabi Golam Mohammad Foundation Award-2006 for his contribution to the modern Bengali poetry, says a press release.
   Noted poet and lyricist of the 80s, Golam Mohammad died on August 22, 2002 at his 43.
   Every year, besides other activities, the foundation gives award to a poet since 2003, the release said.

A former additional secretary of the information ministry, Farid Uddin Ahmed, died after he was knocked down by a train at Khilkhet in the capital on Saturday. He was 60.
   The train hit him at around 10:00am while he was passing by the level crossing talking on a mobile phone. He collapsed with severe head injuries and died on the spot.
   The janaza of Farid,also a former principal information officer, was held at the National Press Club after juhr prayers. He was buried at his Narsingdi village home.Farid, an associate member of the National Press Club, is survived by his wife and an adopted daughter.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, gave seperate messages condoling his death.

The 82nd anniversary of birth of the late politician Moshiur Rahman Jadu Miah will be observed today, said a press release on Saturday.
   Jadu Miah fought for democracy in Bangladesh and was one of the dreamers and founders of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Dal.
   After 1975, he formed an alliance with late president Ziaur Rahman, the press release said.
   Recitation from the Qur’an and a prayer session will be held at his grave.
   Jadu Miah passed away in 1979. He was 55.

The 5th anniversary of death of eminent journalist Mahbub Anam, former editor of the Bangladesh Times, will be observed today.
   Mahbub Anam also served as a senior executive of the then Pakistan Observer and senior vice-president of Bangladesh Editors’ Council.
   He received Swadhinata Padak, Sher-e-Bangla Gold Medal, Moulana Akram Khan Gold Medal, Kalodhwani Padak and Tribhuj Gold Medal.
   He authored a number of books, including Amra Bangladeshi Amra Banglai and Itihasher Shikriti Bonam Bikriti.
   He also served as the general manager of the Jamuna Oil Company and director of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.
   Mahbub Anam, the second son of noted politician, litterateur and journalist the late Abul Mansur Ahmed and elder brother of Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star and publisher of the daily Prothom Alo, was actively involved in politics since his student life.
   He was general secretary of Salimullah Muslim Hall of Dhaka University in1954-55 and was appointed acting publication secretary of the then Jukta Front on behalf of the Awami League in 1954.
   A fatehakhwani will be offered at his grave and recitation from the Qur’an and a prayer session will be held in his Dhanmondi residence, said a press release on Saturday.

Japan could contribute further to the development of Bangladesh’s infrastructures including railway for establishing direct transport connectivity with BIMSTEC countries, especially India, if the Far Eastern country is included in the Bay of Bengal rim grouping.
   Also, adoption of transport and transit agreements between the countries of the group of economic cooperation comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan, would facilitate enhanced trade through the use of roads and ports.
   The views came at a Saturday dialogue titled ‘BIMSTEC-Japan Cooperation: Bangladesh Perspective’, organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Inter-national and Strategic Studies, Kolkata-based CSIRD, Colombo’s Marga Institute, Thailand Development Research Institute in Bangkok, Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Institute of Economics and Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan.
   The seminar was told that inclusion of Japan, already a huge trade and development partner of most of the BIMSTEC members, would increase volume of intra-group trade, which was only 4 per cent at present, and promote trade complementarities, even including intra-industry trade.
   Underlining the need for activating the BIMSTEC for greater economic cooperation, experts at the dialogue said that ‘strong political commitments’ were essential for strengthening transport activity among the member countries.
   Currently, India does not allow third country trade from Nepal and Bhutan through Indian territory to use Mongla seaport, nor does Bangladesh allow traffic from northeast India to use Chittagong seaport or to move across its territory to Kolkata, they added.
   Shashank, a former external affairs secretary of India, said the joining of extra-regional economic powers like Japan in the process of regional cooperation, be it SAARC or BIMSTEC, could bring momentum in the grouping.
   Japan has been given the observer status in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in accordance with a decision taken at the Dhaka summit of the organisation.
   The Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, Masayuki Inoue, also spoke in favour of his country’s inclusion in BIMSTEC, which was formed in 1997 with five members. However, inclusion of any members should be endorsed at the summit-level meeting of the group. BIMSTEC had its first summit held in Bangkok in 2004 and incorporated Nepal and Bhutan into it.
   The Bangladesh foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, called for involvement of non-member states, such as Japan, international financial institutions and private sectors within the member states in financing sub-regional and regional projects.
   ‘When the West is looking at the East, we are unnecessarily looking beyond the region,’ he said emphasising on drawing a roadmap towards a customs union leading to an economic community in SAARC and BIMSTEC.

Two persons, including a nurse, were killed in separate incidents in the Dhaka city Friday night and Saturday.
   At Uttara, the police recovered the bloodstained body of a nurse from the ultrasonogram room of Greenland Hospital at about 11:30pm on Friday.
   The deceased was identified as Shahnaj Akter Rina, 19, daughter of Shahaj Uddin of Alam Market at Cherag Ali of Tongi and also an assistant of the ultrasonogram unit of the hospital.
   The police said one of her colleagues, Likhon, aided by others, strangled her inside the hospital after ‘gang rape’ as she refused to marry him.
   The police arrested Shah Aziz, an assistant of the hospital, in this connection.
   Rina was from village Bardi under the Sonargaon police station in Narayanganj.
   A case was lodged with the Uttara police.
   At Khilgaon, a gang of drug peddlers stabbed to death a young man Friday night near the Uttar Goran Government Primary School.
   The victim was identified as Arman, 25, son of Abdul Barek of 26/3 Khilgaon and also a grocer of Goran area.
   Family members of the victim said local drug peddlers Sohel and Bhombal called Arman out from the residence at around 10:30pm and stabbed him in the chest, face and head.
   Hearing him groaning, local people took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died from his wounds at around 5:00am.
   Local people alleged that the local drugs pushers killed him as the victim protested against their business in the area.
   The Khilgaon police station recorded a case.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Saturday hinted at fielding candidates even from outside the party to win the next general elections.
   ‘How can we win or who can bring victory for us is the main thing,’ Hasina, also the leader of the opposition in Parliament, was learnt to have told the grassroots AL leaders of Rajshahi, who met her at her Dhanmondi office.
   She also stressed a greater electoral alliance, comprising more parties and individuals, to win the next parliamentary elections.
   ‘The 14-party alliance requires to be expanded as its strength at present is not enough to win the polls,’ a source present in the meeting quoted Hasina as saying.
   Responding to the request for fielding party candidates to the Rajshahi-2 constituency, she said, ‘Organisational-base is weak in the area where there is also a lack of wining candidate from the party.’
   They demanded that an Awami League candidate should be fielded for the Rajshahi-2 constituency where Fazley Hossain Badsha of the Workers Party was being heard of, meeting sources said.
   The Rajshahi city AL general secretary, Khairuzzaman Liton, also the son of slain national leader AHM Qamaruzzaman, aspires to be a party candidate from the constituency.
   Hasina asked the local leaders to work for Sardar Amjad Hossain, who recently joined Awami League from Jatiya Party, and discussed about his wining prospect in Rajshahi-3 constituency.
   Asking the party men to be ready for sacrificing their aspirations for candidature for the party interest, she warned that those who would work against the party decision would be punished.
   Presidents and general secretaries of some 16 organizational units of AL in Rajshahi exchanged views with Hasina.